The Fishing Report

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, August 13, 2009

First of the morning, and maybe not even that, and the California Dawn was out of Berkeley marina and over the bay until it was under the Gate and on its way.

Sun found the hills, the Cal Dawn made the ocean and held to the coast, and it all went on like that until the wind came in hard from the north. The plan was to make Chimney Rock, turn the corner and fish off Point Reyes, all for lingcod, which chewed the baits and lures so well the week before. The boat fought its way north and west, skipper realized he couldn't make the turn, and so the Cal Dawn fished at the pointed rock, where the cliffs rise above Drake's Beach. And the fishermen did OK. They toughed it for 16 or so lingcod to 15 pounds and half-limits of rockfish. Way back, with the incoming tide, the boat stopped over the North Bar to drift for halibut. It put in 11, then quit when a wave slapped the side of the Cal Dawn and soaked some of the customers.

The New Huck Finn started at the North Bar with the outgoing tide, which made for a roily morning, and it caught halibut. The weather got nice between tides, then that wind arrived with the incoming push. The NHF worked back to the bay, to Alcatraz, and its final score was 22 halibut to 22 pounds for 18 anglers. ... New Salmon Queen followed the same course and had a dozen halibut to 20 pounds for 15.

The Flying A out of Richmond didn't bother with halibut. It had a charter of three, and the boat, skipper, crew and three went to the South Bay and stopped at A Buoy, which resides off the Oakland Airport and puts you over 26 feet of bay. The live wells held sardine, the baits went down, and from 7 a.m. to the very early part of the afternoon the rods bucked and fish were fought continuously. They landed and released: 37 leopard sharks to 30 pounds, three seven-gills to the same weight, and three soupfins, largest of which the skipper estimated at 50 pounds.

Albacore:

Bad weather here. Bad weather and hardly a chance. Still, the full-time skippers and weekenders are talking. Most all you hear north of Pillar Point involves fishing south of Santa Cruz. That's just the way of it, as there was decent enough weather over the weekend and into the early part of the week. Skiffs and bigger boats ran for what they call the Dogbone, which is 35 miles west-southwest from Monterey. Others aimed for the water 30 miles off Point Sur, where cold ocean met warmer ocean and formed a crisp break. Some of the boats had 25 fish. Heard of some with 40. And there was talk of guys cleaning a catch of 60 fish, which is a mean task, if you've never tried. Then there was the report New Huck Finn skip Jay Yokomizo fielded from a commercial-fishing friend. The friend of this friend, guy who runs a 50-foot commercial venture, is said to have landed 300 albacore, all on jigs. And it might be true. Meantime, the weather looks something this side of deadly for the next several days.

Delta:

The striped bass mostly have been missing from the bay and local ocean for the past week. Hard to say where they'd gone off to until guide Bob Sparre called down from Rio Vista on Wednesday. Since Friday, he has been putting his clients over bass and helping them catch fish until said customers beg mercy. He's had 40-fish days. He's had days with even more fish landed. One day, his group of three quit at 25, having fished and caught enough. The bass are schooled up so tight, Sparre said, that they black out the depth sounder. He starts out trolling (Yozuri Crystal Minnows, deep-running) and switches to "spooning" (homemade, green, you'll have to ask him) when he gets over a school of fish. Monday, he was just getting the trolling gear out and into the water when he had to put it away again. Screen went black, the jigging rods came out, lures went down, and in a few seconds a fish was on. Like the week before, it was a fall-run salmon, ocean-bright, 25 pounds, soon released. After that, it was all bass. Sparre has a trip Friday, but nothing on the books for Saturday and Sunday. Info: (916) 826-3600.